Writing Balance in the Seasons of Life by Carol Harrison

Photo by Carol Harrison

I am in a season of life where it should not be difficult to find balance between time for writing and obligations of daily life. I have no small children. Grandchildren are mostly adults with their own busy lives, so I am not fortunate enough to have to babysit or even get to hang out often with them any more. Amee can do many things for herself and even helps me around the house. I have no spouse to devote time and attention to. I’m not leading a ladies’ Bible study or doing much speaking. Basic daily chores don’t take heaps of time.

So why then, with all the time now available for writing, does it feel like a winter season of dormancy? Now, when juggling many balls is not part of the equation, balance should be easy. But maybe that is part of the problem. I have too much time and it is easy to procrastinate; easy to be lulled into complacency; easy to get lost in the pages of a book; easy to not bother picking up my pen or sitting at my computer. Excuses run rampant through my mind, skittering here and there like a mouse darting from one place to another.

As I look back to other seasons of life where more writing happened, I had great encouragement or even sometimes nagging to go and get writing from my husband. I also realize, for me, deadlines helped me carve out time to write – even self-imposed deadlines. Yet, procrastination still lurked, making me leave things until deadlines loomed larger. Maybe if I set myself some deadlines or booked appointments for my writing time that I honored faithfully, I might find the words and ideas begin to flow again. Maybe then the winter season of writing would give way to spring. Ideas could begin to bloom; words could grow into paragraphs and finished pieces. Spring would be a season of time for writing after the winter of rest and learning. Now to quit procrastinating and follow through on picking up my pen or sitting at my computer. It is a matter of trying to write until ideas begin to germinate. To everything there is a season.

Carol Harrison writes from her home in Saskatoon. She loves stories and often gets lost in the pages of a book instead of writing or even doing daily chores, procrastinating too many things.


Profile photo by Bruce Guenter

The Power of Words by Carol Harrison

 
We know the power of words. They can encourage or defeat us; tear down or build up. My writing journey towards my first book includes both.

As a child and teen, I enjoyed reading and writing but never thought beyond short stories, paragraphs, and school reports. I enjoyed the research and creativity. In grade 12, the teacher asked us to write a short story. I wrote one called, “The Rebel” and worked hard on edits and more edits. I typed it out and handed it in, pleased with the result. My paper came back with very few red marks on it and a very good mark. Yet the teacher had written one sentence at the bottom, “unrealistic point of view.” That one comment negated the great mark on the front of the paper, at least in my mind.

The next year in first year English at university, the first report I handed in came back with a failing grade. I made arrangements to chat with the professor and find out what I did wrong and how I could improve.

His answer, “You’re in university. You should know!”

Those two incidents made me believe I couldn’t write. I decided to stuff my love of writing deep down inside and tell no one about it. I’d hand in assignments done to the best of my ability and that’s it. I didn’t even want to journal. But I did continue to read and enjoy other peoples’ writing.

Decades later, my husband, Brian, told me, “You should write Amee’s story.”

My response came quick and firm, “I can’t write!”

He continued to ask, nag, cajole. The word I used to describe his encouragement depended on how I felt at that moment. I kept insisting I couldn’t write. I didn’t know how. I’d never told him why I believed that. He didn’t believe in my lack of ability and continued to try and encourage me.

 
More time passed and I gave in and began but deleted just as many times. Then Amee began begging me to write her story so people would understand about her and that God works in our lives. Now I had two people encouraging me to write.

 
I began to sort through reports and daytimers and any place I had information on the journey we’d been on. I researched and reminisced. I organized chronologically. Then I began to write a memoir once again. I got bogged down and discouraged.

 
My friend told me about a one-day writers’ conference in Saskatoon. My response, “It wouldn’t be for me. I’m not a writer.”

Her reply, “It says it’s for everyone.”

With her encouragement and Brian’s as well, I moved outside my comfort zone and went. That day I learned lots from the presenters and met so many wonderful people. Encouragers. Presenters. Published authors. I heard about a monthly meeting of Christian writers in the city and finally became brave enough to attend a meeting. Eventually I allowed myself to be vulnerable and read what I had begun. I asked for help because I felt stuck.

 
A published author who attended asked if I really wanted an honest critique. I agreed I needed that. She said, “If this is to go beyond family, cut this and this and start here. Then she walked away.

 
On the way home, after fussing a bit about her answer, I decided to start a new word document and begin where she suggested. If I didn’t like it, I could revert to my original draft. It worked. I became unstuck and the words began to flow. Finally, I had a finished manuscript ready for multiple rounds of edits.

My first book, Amee’s Story was published in January of 2010. God has used it to touch many people over the years. The writing continued since then as well. It felt like floodgates had been opened. I’m grateful for the writers of InScribe who have helped and encouraged me in my journey and shown me the power of encouraging words.

Carol Harrison has written a variety of things since publishing that first book in 2010 from her home in Saskatoon. She appreciates learning first hand the power of words and welcomes the encouraging ones to offset those we find ourselves believing that are discouraging.

Beauty and Writing by Carol Harrison

What brings pleasure to my senses? As I pondered the prompt for this month's blog post, I scrolled through photos from the years gone by. Beauty in everyday moments filled the screen and brought wonderful memories to mind. It filled my senses as I could remember the scent of a flower, the chill of the air, the noise of rapids, and see the majesty of the rugged peaks. 

Beauty found in moments of sunrise through the trees or across a snow covered field, colouring the sky with vibrant colours as a new day began. I paused at photos of fast flowing, white water rapids tumbling through the Niagara Gorge and remembered their roar and the splash of water onto the observation deck. Other photos showed a storm laden sky with dark ominous clouds hiding the brilliance of the sun as the earth waited for drops of moisture. 

There is a delicate beauty of a blossom no matter where it blooms. I've snapped a photo of a lone, stunted sunflower brightening up the shoulder of a highway on a dreary, cloudy day. Another photo reminds me of the beauty a bouquet of flowers brightened a hospital room or on my dining table.  

The list continues as I scroll through photos and bring memories to mind. Yet I also find beauty in my favourite paintings or prints hanging on my walls, some made more special because I know the artist. There are pretty knick knacks, many with stories to go with them sitting on shelves throughout my home. They range from delicate, fragile china ornaments to the sparkling insides of a geode or the round smoothness of an old marble. 

There have been so many times I wish I could capture the beauty of everyday things with more than word pictures like a fantastic photo or accurate sketch. Yet that is not the gift God has given me. I must use words to capture the imagination, fill the senses, and evoke memories for the readers so they feel like they are transported to that time and place.  Everyday moments offer such a diverse subject matter for our writing and the opportunity to create wonderful word pictures. Each time I sit to write I need to remember to engage all the senses in order to offer the readers the most enjoyable, engaging experience they can have with the words on my pages. 

God created the beauty in the world around us for us to enjoy. Psalm 24:1 says "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof; the world and they that dwell therein." My words are a gift God has given to be used for His glory and the enjoyment of the readers. I need to continue to trust Him and learn more about the craft of writing and then practice it. 

 

Carol Harrison lives and writes from Saskatoon, SK. She loves to find the beauty in everyday things around her and then try and capture them with a photo and word pictures. 
 

My Writing Space by Carol Harrison

  

For years, my chosen writing space has been on my computer at my desk. My style of desk has changed over the years as has the space around it. Rarely have I had the luxury of a separate office. Often, as now, the office space is in a corner of my bedroom. The area around the desk could be called cluttered for it often is. Yet many of the objects on and above my desk inspire me, relax me, and intrigue me. The pictures on the shelves above the desk area include paintings by people I know, old photos, and two book covers for books I have written.

I have a large mirrored word, DREAM, hanging just above my desk as a reminder to let my imagination soar and work towards dreams I may have. There is also a painted word, BELIEVE, sitting on my desk and another that says, REJOICE ALWAYS. Good reminders every day. Small rocks including geodes sit on shelves by my desk. Some little rocks in containers are shiny or little gemstones. Others are plain and smooth with words like HOPE, FAITH, SMILE and WISDOM printed on them. More great reminders for daily life and in my writing as well.

Outside my window, beside the desk area, is a large evergreen tree. Lots of birds make their nests in it. During spring and summer, when my window is open, I enjoy the birds singing. It is a calm, peaceful spot to open the computer and type my thoughts into a new word document. I can type faster than I can write longhand and so for years my go to method meant working on the computer, opening a new word document, and watching a piece of writing transform from an idea in my mind to words and sentences on the screen.

If I wanted to journal or jot ideas down on paper, I liked to curl up in a comfy chair in the living room, letting the light shine in from the large window beside it. Almost three years ago I stopped most of my writing. Oh, I continued to grab a nice writing pen and pretty journal and sit in that comfy chair by the window. I could write longhand journal entries and even the few other bits of writing I have worked on these last few years. I began jotting more family stories in this manner. Later I typed them into the computer and printed them off for the grandchildren for Christmas.

I find morning or early afternoon have proven the most productive for writing over the years. By late afternoon and evening, my mind wanders to other activities and family time. Despite knowing a writing routine might be a great thing, I have never written daily. It allows some spontaneity but also makes me easily procrastinate, which isn’t good. If I have a specific project on the go, I write more frequently than if no firm ideas are in place.

I still need quiet other than something as soothing as bird song to concentrate on writing anything, even journal entries. But what changed my preferred space and method of writing in the last three years? The short answer is I am not sure. Sitting at the computer felt like a chore. I had excuses like poor lighting and a very messy desk as papers piled up on and around the computer which felt like too much effort to sort through.

I’ve run a few pens out of ink, completed more notebooks and journals, and continue to enjoy the pieces of things that inspire me. Maybe one day I’ll sort the clutter, find hidden treasures I’ve jotted down and revert to having my desk once again become my first choice of writing environment. while thoughts become words and completed pieces on my computer. Until then I’ll grab a notebook, good pen, and enjoy my comfy chair for the times I actually think of something to write.

 

Carol Harrison types her pieces on to her laptop amidst the mess of her cluttered desk area in Saskatoon, SK. She writes in a variety of genres, but really enjoys the family stories to tell or write down for her family.

Do I Really Need Those Words? by Carol Harrison

  

Some of the best advice I have received came at the beginning of my writing journey. When I began writing, I soon got bogged down in trying to make the words flow. I finally became brave enough to share that first chapter with more seasoned writers.

One published author asked me if the memoir was for family or to go beyond to a wider audience. If it was meant to go to more readers than just family, she told me to cut this and this and this and start here. The chopped sentences could be woven in if I thought I really needed those words but at a later point in the manuscript.

After realizing I’d asked for help, I began a new word document, cutting extraneous sentences and began where the writer suggested. If I didn’t like the new start, I still had the first file to return to and see if I could muddle through. The story began to flow as I cut those sentences from it. I found I didn’t need them to reappear at a later point.

Later I took Marcia Laycock’s devotional writing online workshop. It taught me, among other things, to remove unnecessary words or even whole sentences to say what I meant in the least number of words. In one exercise she had us write a devotional and gave us 1500 words. But part B of the exercise was to cut it by half without taking away any meaning. Part C, should we choose to accept it, was to cut it in half again but still retain the full meaning. It meant asking myself, “Do I really need really need this word or that one?”

It taught me how to write tight. I’ve received that advice from others along my journey as a writer, sometimes at a workshop and at other times in one-on-one conversations with more experienced writers. I think the question, “Do I need these words?” is one we should ask ourselves often as writers. It helps us avoid being too wordy and slowing down the flow of the story.

Along with choosing our words carefully, we can also avoid filler words or words we overuse. Do I really need these words to add to the meaning of the piece or help the flow of the story? Maybe I do and maybe I don’t. It all depends on whether it enhances the piece or distracts the readers’ attention.

I think this is some of the very good advice I have received over the years in my writing journey. But I am still a work in progress at following it all the time.

 

Carol Harrison believes there is always more to learn about this craft of writing. But putting the advice into practice doesn't always go as smoothly as she wants it to. She writes from her home in Saskatoon, SK.

The Nativity Set by Carol Harrison

                                                              

I hurried into the department store, glad to be out of the bitterly cold December weather. Just inside the store I stopped at a display of nativity sets. Bins of individual figurines sat beside the shelves holding the complete sets. My Christmas shopping list quickly disappeared from my mind as I stared longingly at the display.

I had always wanted to have a nativity set as part of my Christmas decorations. Yet years of holidays had come and gone and owning my own set remained nothing more than a desire. I always told myself that someday I would get one. I just didn't know when. Usually all the sets I saw and liked were beyond my budget. The most beautiful ones were delicate and breakable which would have been impractical in a house with children.

But the prices attached to these bins were affordable. My hopes soared as I began sorting through the containers of pretty yet unbreakable pieces. I started wondering if I could find all the figures needed to make up a complete nativity set. Excitedly I picked up Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. Next I pulled out a few different shepherds and three unique wise men. Then I found a donkey, sheep and even camels. Finally I discovered an angel. I put them all into my shopping cart and began searching the shelves for a stable but all of them were part of full sets. Undaunted I completed the rest of my shopping and purchased all the affordable figures. I could keep looking for an inexpensive stable or get someone to nail a few rough boards together to represent one.

Eagerly I headed home with all my Christmas surprises and treasures. Later that afternoon I gathered the children around the Christmas tree and began to tell them about Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus while I placed them under the tree. Then I told them about the shepherds on the hillside and the choir of angels who announced the birth of the Christ child. I added the shepherds and a few sheep to my display while I told how they eagerly hurried to Bethlehem to see this amazing event for themselves. I stood the angel close by, as if watching protectively everyone surrounding the manger. I told them about the wise men who came from the East to worship the new born King and added three figures along with their camels. Finally I placed the donkey and cow behind the holy family to complete the scene. My youngest watched every move.

As I finished telling the story my three older children scattered to activities that more fully captured their interest. I headed to the kitchen to make supper but glanced back to admire my new, long waited for nativity set. I saw my two-year old, special needs daughter lying on her tummy staring intently at the scene. I continued to watch quietly for a couple minutes. Soon her little hand reached out and began to rearrange each piece. Baby Jesus remained in the centre but she moved Mary and Joseph even closer. Then she moved the shepherds, sheep, wise men and camels until all were crowded around the manger holding the baby. Finally she turned them until all were gazing in adoration at Jesus. Completing her task she got up, noticed me and smiled before coming to take my hand and pull me toward the Christmas tree. She possessed an almost negligible vocabulary but no words were needed to let me know how important this set already was to her. I realized she understood the Christmas story she listened to repeatedly at Sunday school and at home.

Each day, until we put the decorations away after New Year’s, she spent time lying in front of the Christmas tree looking at or rearranging the pieces. Baby Jesus always remained the central figure. I enjoyed watching this often repeated task and the huge smiles that always accompanied it. Several more years disappeared before I found a little, rough wooden stable to add to the scene but that didn't seem to matter to her. All she needed to act out the Bible story of Christmas were the figures themselves.

The years passed and each year my youngest daughter eagerly waited for the Christmas decorations to fill the house. She thoroughly loved this holiday season. Smiles wreathed her face especially when the nativity set made its appearance under the tree. It became her self-appointed job to arrange it until she was satisfied that all eyes were on the baby in the manger. She also continued to sit and listen to the Christmas story from the gospel of Luke as many times as someone would read it to her.

Tasks that we often take for granted proved difficult for her to learn to do. By the time she turned ten she had finally learned to read and received a children's Bible as her Christmas gift. As soon as she opened it she brought it to me so I could show her where to find the Christmas story. Over and over she read the words all by herself. This brought her so much pleasure and filled my eyes with tears of joy.

My children grew up and the oldest three married. Our family continued to expand with the addition of grandchildren. It had become our family tradition for my youngest daughter to arrange the nativity set under the tree each Christmas, a chore she relished. If anyone moved it around she'd go over and gently replace all the figures to her liking. One year as I took out the all the decorations, I wondered if the time had come to upgrade the nativity set to a fancier one. While we decorated the house I voiced my thoughts only to quickly be met with total rejection by my youngest daughter.

“A new fancy one will be breakable. How will all the nieces and nephews play out the Christmas story? They have to be able to play with it and move them around. You have to keep this set. It has to go under the tree.” she said with a worried look on her face.

I realized the intensity of her desire for my grandchildren to have the opportunity to enjoy the simple pleasures she had experienced year after year and I gave in. The original set stayed.

Over the years I have added other decorations that depict the Christmas story from the Bible. Yet none of them holds the special place in her heart that my original purchase does. This first visual representation, which made the story come alive for her, needs to remain part of our family tradition. My desire for a nativity set had a wonderful ripple effect within my family, but mostly with my youngest, which continues to surprise and amaze me.

Carol Harrison loves the Christmas season. This story originally appeared in Chicken Soup for the Soul, Tales of Christmas 2011. The picture is one she took of this nativity set which still sits under their tree each year even though the grandchildren are mostly all adults.

Community of Encouragers by Carol Harrison

 

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Hebrews 10:24-25 (NIV)

We all need encouragement in our daily lives. I have been and am blessed with a community of encouragers. One of my greatest encouragers was my husband, Brian. He believed I could do more than I thought I could possibly accomplish. He continually encouraged me to go and write even when I didn’t feel like it. I miss his encouragement every day more that I can express.

Yet, I am not without others who have and do encourage me even as I walk with grief which seems to put a block on my writing. A number of my grandchildren have encouraged me to branch out and try other genres or have helped design book covers or format for KDP. All of these things are encouragement. I can also encourage the grandchildren in using their talents with book cover design and formatting which I enjoy doing.

For the last two years, I have faced a block with writing and crafting. I don’t know why this has to be a season of waiting for inspiration or the desire to continue on a writing journey. Yet in the midst of this time, I have others who encourage me to try like my oldest daughter, Lorilee. We often discuss writing or my lack thereof lately. She encourages me to take a step forward and then another one. What can I do to discover what is holding me back? Then work through it and try writing something or editing something I’ve written long ago.

Maybe, she suggests, it is because I haven’t begun a project my husband had challenged me to write before he passed away. It will be a difficult project to write about journeying with him through his cancer. But it might also be a healing journey. I have started an outline and a rough first chapter and then put it back away. Maybe she is right and it is time to face it once again.

I also have friends who pray for me and encourage me. These dear friends keep telling me I have the ability to write. I just need to take the time to rest and then step forward one step at a time with the writing and crafting until the excitement returns. They get excited when I write something new or publish a piece. The encouragement makes me feel like someone cares how I am doing.

I have also been encouraged by reading the Inscribe blog posts and the authors' writings. The conference encouraged me as well. There are so many avenues of encouragement opportunities within our organization and that is how it should be.

The saying, “It takes a village to raise a child,” flits through my mind, and yet in this case for this prompt, I believe it takes a community of encouragers to help us as writers and believers continue on in the path God has set for us.

May you find a community of encouragers surrounding you.

 

Carol Harrison appreciates each person who has encouraged her on her life and writing journey. They are blessings from God.

Reusing Writing by Carol Harrison

 

As I read the prompt for this month on reusing or recycling your writing, I thought of all the bits and pieces of writing on my computer as well as the books, articles, and stories I have written. What have I already reused at some point? What else could I recycle?

At an Inscribe Fall Conference a few years ago, our keynote speaker was Grace Fox. In talking to her about her thoughts on reusing or recycling our writing, she gave me a few ideas. With my memoir book, Amee’s Story, I could take portions of the story and rewrite them as a devotional to submit. I have used parts of the story as a devotional and also as illustrations when I have been speaking. Bits and pieces have wound their way into blog posts as well as short memoir style stories. Then I took one small section and expanded on it so it became a short story on its own. I submitted it to Chicken Soup for the Soul who published it. It referenced bullying Amee had experienced. For the short story I had the opportunity to add more of the details.

A devotional I wrote called The Crying Rock; I have used as an illustration when speaking. I also incorporated it into one of my novels, A Mother for Anna. It is a devotional based on a family story. I also wrote it up as a short story for a contest.

So as I pondered this prompt and remembered the conversation with Grace Fox at the conference, I realize I’ve recycled and reused some of my writing in a variety of ways. I need to revisit some other pieces of writing to see what else might be able to be adapted and recycled to submit somewhere instead of just sitting on my computer or on my bookshelf.

Maybe the first step is to organize all the files on my computer. They are in a bit of a disarray. Are there some bits and pieces or ideas that can germinate into short stories, devotionals, articles, or maybe even transform into a poem?

Each year I write family stories from various time frames and print them off in a booklet for my grandchildren for Christmas. Are there some of these family stories that could become, with adaptation, short stories to submit somewhere? The answer, I believe, is yes since I have used a few of them to submit to Chicken Soup for the Soul, several of which they have published. A couple of other ones have become devotionals or short memoir stories in the book I co-authored with Ruth Keighley called, Making Crooked Places Straight. Other stories for the grandchildren might just be waiting for their turn to be recycled and reused.

Then, as I organize my files and all the paper copies of writings, I might find some redundant pieces that can be reduced. Why do I need multiple copies or drafts of some pieces? But I am a packrat and it is hard to let go of the paper and just keep a digital copy of pieces of my writing. I am a work in progress on the organizing and reducing paper copies.

One thing I know about myself is I need to keep telling the stories in whatever fashion that takes. It might be through writing stories or devotionals. It might be when I am asked to speak or in conversation with someone else.

The verses from Psalm 71: 17, 18 resonate with this for me.

“O God from my youth you have taught me and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even to old age and grey hairs, O God do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come”.

Now it’s time to tell some stories.

 

Carol Harrison is a storyteller who sometimes even writes her stories down. She is a packrat who has a hard time organizing her bits and pieces of writing on her computer or jotted down on pieces of paper or in various notebooks.